Annotated Bibliography : Mental Illness and It's Effect on Families

Andreasen, Nancy. Brave New Brain. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2001. Print.

An explanation of how the brain works and images of the brain are used to show how the brain structures have been studied. Studies were explained in terms that were informative but not horribly technical. Stories from people who have developed mental illness and their friends, families, and caretakers were included.

Caton, Carol and et al.. “Risk Factors for Homelessness among Women with Schizophrenia” American Journal of Public Health. 85. 1995. 1153-1156. Print.

Facts, facts, and more facts. Two hundred women with schizophrenia were studied, one hundred indigent women and one hundred with no history of homelessness. The article discusses what might make the women more or less prone to being or becoming indigent. The three risk factors that were explored were severity of mental illness, family background, and prior mental health service use.

Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry, . A Family Affair: Helping Families Cope with Mental Illness. 1st. New York, NY: Brunner/Mazel, Inc, 1986. Print.

This was probably the most useful book out of all of them to help cope with feelings resulting from growing up with a schizophrenic parent. This book was published two years after I needed it. If only I had found it then. It contains actual accounts from family members of a schizophrenic and goes into detail about how doctors might want to approach some of the situations.

Harmon, Charles. The Dianosis and Stigma of Schizophrenia. Brookings, OR: Old Court Press, 2003. Print.

From stigma to prejudices, forced sterilization to genocide. This book does a good job of looking back at history and showing the lows that humanity will go to to hide mental illness and in fact try to eradicate it. From Hitler's thoughts that mentally ill people should be sent to the ovens with the Jewish people to forced sterilization in our own country. The work is well put together and researched.

MacDonald, Michael. Mystical Bedlam. 1st. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1981. Print.

The history of insanity is the topic of this work starting in early modern England. Numerous popular stereotypes of insanity are demonstrated. While the information provided was interesting and informative I chose not to use this book for this particular essay due to the sheer amount of data available on the subject. It was hard enough deciding what to cut out with out throwing in another 300 years worth of information.

Liddle, Peter. “The Multidimensional Phenotype of Schizophrenia”Schizophrenia in a Molecular Age. 18.1999: 22. Print

The wording in this journal article is technical, which it should be since it is a medical journal, nd can be confusing. The classical subtypes and various models are discussed along with imaging and genetic factors. Reading through this greatly explained some of the phases that might be seen in some one with schizophrenia. The work was well researched and definitely contributed to an understanding of the subject matter.

Riley, Brien, and Kenneth Kendler. "Genetics of Schizophrenia: Linkage and Association Sudies." Psychiatric Genetics. 24. 2005: 130. Print.

This journal article looks into why the genes that contribute to schizophrenia should be found nd where they might be found. There is discussion about how manifestation of symptoms can ome from multiple causes. It also looks into susceptibility and shows how it is not based on a ingle gene but more likely two or more. This article was well researched and included tables nd figures to explain some of the more interesting information.

"Schizophrenia: Public Attitudes, Personal Needs." Nami (National Alliance on Mental Illness). NAMI, Web. 2 Nov 2009. .

What do you know about schizophrenia? That is the quiz button on Nami's main page that lead me to this article. This article abounds with facts and survey results. It is broken down into three sections; Living with Schizophrenia, Public Attitudes, and Caregiver Experiences and Challenges. Each section is useful on its own. All three sections combined are invaluable.